Scraps and Snippets ~ Wild Rice Mushroom Chowder

Hope you all had a terrific Christmas. Christmas Eve is a soup feed at our house. I've always prepped at least three soups. Baked Potato, Chili, etc. Two of my favorites (and Rob's) are Pizza Soup and Wild Rice Soup. Rob asks for Pizza Soup every year.

The challenge this year was to veganize these recipes and make them taste as good as the dairy/animal product versions. Could I do it?

I did serve a chicken curry chili, too. But the omnivores in the bunch ate up the pizza and mushroom soup. There ended up being a bowl or two of each.

Wild Rice Mushroom Chowder (VEGAN)

4 celery stalks (finely diced)

4 medium sized carrots (finely diced)

1 medium sized onion small dice

6-8 ounces of mushrooms small dice

1 cup uncooked wild rice (rinsed thoroughly)

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

2 TBSP Earth Balance

2 TBSP flour (whatever kind you want to use)

6 cups vegetable broth

32 ounces unsweetened, plain non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened shelf stable soy)

In dutch oven, melt Earth Balance. Toss in onion and saute until onions become tender and caramelize. Turn heat down, and add carrots and celery and cook til they soften. Add mushrooms and cook until they begin to soften. About three minutes. Add the flour until the veggies are coated. Add vegetable broth and simmer on low. Add brown rice and wild rice. Simmer at least two hours. If the mixture thickens too much you can add more vegetable broth. A half hour before serving add the milk and keep on low simmer until you serve.